A record 83 countries have submitted entries in the 2014 Academy Awards race for Best Foreign Language Film, the Academy announced on Thursday. The field is by far the largest ever in the category, which had a previous high of 76 last year.
This marks the third consecutive year that the size of the field has set a new record. In 2012, a then-record 71 films were eligible for the award, a record that stood for only one year.
This year’s submissions include films from Mauritania, Malta, Kosovo and Panama, countries that had never before entered the Oscar race.
The Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee spent the last week examining each submission for eligibility. None of the film whose submissions had been announced by their home countries were disqualified.
Also read: Oscar Foreign-Language Contenders, 2014: The Complete List
The formidable field does not have a clear favorite. But the best-known contenders include Andrey Zvyagintsev’s powerful “Leviathan” (a surprise Russian selection), Pawel Pawlikowski’s arthouse hit “Ida” (Poland), Nuri Bilge Ceylan‘s Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Winter Sleep” (Turkey), the Dardenne brothers’ affecting “Two Days, One Night” with Marion Cotillard (pictured, Belgium), Xavier Dolan’s bold “Mommy” (Canada), Kornel Mundruczo’s brutal “White God” (Hungary), Abderrahmane Sissako’s wrenching “Timbuktu” (first-time competitor Mauritania), Damian Szifron’s blackly humorous anthology film “Wild Tales” (Argentina) and Ruben Ostlund’s subtle but telling “Force Majeure” (Sweden).
Films will be screened for a volunteer committee of Academy members from all branches beginning next Monday, with voters giving each film a number score. A member must see a minimum number of films, either at AMPAS screenings or at outside screenings, for his or her vote to qualify.
The six top-ranked films, based on scores from the qualified voters, will move to a nine-film shortlist, joined by three selections made by a specially chosen executive committee in Los Angeles.
Committees made up of 20 Academy members in L.A., 10 in New York and 10 in London will then view all nine shortlisted films over a three-day period, and vote to select the five nominees.
Also read: Oscars to Add Winning Foreign Language Director’s Name on Statuette
TheWrap has compiled a list of the eligible films, with descriptions and links to trailers when available.
The eligible films, from the AMPAS press release:
Afghanistan, “A Few Cubic Meters of Love,” Jamshid Mahmoudi, director;
Argentina, “Wild Tales,” Damián Szifrón, director;
Australia, “Charlie’s Country,” Rolf de Heer, director;
Austria, “The Dark Valley,” Andreas Prochaska, director;
Azerbaijan, “Nabat,” Elchin Musaoglu, director;
Bangladesh, “Glow of the Firefly,” Khalid Mahmood Mithu, director;
Belgium, “Two Days, One Night,” Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, directors;
Bolivia, “Forgotten,” Carlos Bolado, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “With Mom,” Faruk Lončarevič, director;
Brazil, “The Way He Looks,” Daniel Ribeiro, director;
Bulgaria, “Bulgarian Rhapsody,” Ivan Nitchev, director;
Canada, “Mommy,” Xavier Dolan, director;
Chile, “To Kill a Man,” Alejandro Fernández Almendras, director;
China, “The Nightingale,” Philippe Muyl, director;
Colombia, “Mateo,” María Gamboa, director;
Costa Rica, “Red Princesses,” Laura Astorga Carrera, director;
Croatia, “Cowboys,” Tomislav Mršić, director;
Cuba, “Conducta,” Ernesto Daranas Serrano, director;
Czech Republic, “Fair Play,” Andrea Sedláčková, director;
Denmark, “Sorrow and Joy,” Nils Malmros, director;
Dominican Republic, “Cristo Rey,” Leticia Tonos, director;
Ecuador, “Silence in Dreamland,” Tito Molina, director;
Egypt, “Factory Girl,” Mohamed Khan, director;
Estonia, “Tangerines,” Zaza Urushadze, director;
Ethiopia, “Difret,” Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, director;
Finland, “Concrete Night,” Pirjo Honkasalo, director;
France, “Saint Laurent,” Bertrand Bonello, director;
Georgia, “Corn Island,” George Ovashvili, director;
Germany, “Beloved Sisters,” Dominik Graf, director;
Greece, “Little England,” Pantelis Voulgaris, director;
Hong Kong, “The Golden Era,” Ann Hui, director;
Hungary, “White God,” Kornél Mundruczó, director;
Iceland, “Life in a Fishbowl,” Baldvin Zophoníasson, director;
India, “Liar’s Dice,” Geetu Mohandas, director;
Indonesia, “Soekarno,” Hanung Bramantyo, director;
Iran, “Today,” Reza Mirkarimi, director;
Iraq, “Mardan,” Batin Ghobadi, director;
Ireland, “The Gift,” Tom Collins, director;
Israel, “Gett, the Trial of Viviane Amsalem,” Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz, directors;
Italy, “Human Capital,” Paolo Virzì, director;
Japan, “The Light Shines Only There,” Mipo O, director;
Kosovo, “Three Windows and a Hanging,” Isa Qosja, director;
Kyrgyzstan, “Kurmanjan Datka Queen of the Mountains,” Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, director;
Latvia, “Rocks in My Pockets,” Signe Baumane, director;
Lebanon, “Ghadi,” Amin Dora, director;
Lithuania, “The Gambler,” Ignas Jonynas, director;
Luxembourg, “Never Die Young,” Pol Cruchten, director;
Macedonia, “To the Hilt,” Stole Popov, director;
Malta, “Simshar,” Rebecca Cremona, director;
Mauritania, “Timbuktu,” Abderrahmane Sissako, director;
Mexico, “Cantinflas,” Sebastián del Amo, director;
Moldova, “The Unsaved,” Igor Cobileanski, director;
Montenegro, “The Kids from the Marx and Engels Street,” Nikola Vukčević, director;
Morocco, “The Red Moon,” Hassan Benjelloun, director;
Nepal, “Jhola,” Yadav Kumar Bhattarai, director;
Netherlands, “Accused,” Paula van der Oest, director;
New Zealand, “The Dead Lands,” Toa Fraser, director;
Norway, “1001 Grams,” Bent Hamer, director;
Pakistan, “Dukhtar,” Afia Nathaniel, director;
Palestine, “Eyes of a Thief,” Najwa Najjar, director;
Panama, “Invasion,” Abner Benaim, director;
Peru, “The Gospel of the Flesh,” Eduardo Mendoza, director;
Philippines, “Norte, the End of History,” Lav Diaz, director;
Poland, “Ida,” Paweł Pawlikowski, director;
Portugal, “What Now? Remind Me,” Joaquim Pinto, director;
Romania, “The Japanese Dog,” Tudor Cristian Jurgiu, director;
Russia, “Leviathan,” Andrey Zvyagintsev, director;
Serbia, “See You in Montevideo,” Dragan Bjelogrlić, director;
Singapore, “Sayang Disayang,” Sanif Olek, director;
Slovakia, “A Step into the Dark,” Miloslav Luther, director;
Slovenia, “Seduce Me,” Marko Šantić, director;
South Africa, “Elelwani,” Ntshavheni Wa Luruli, director;
South Korea, “Haemoo,” Shim Sung-bo, director;
Spain, “Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed,” David Trueba, director;
Sweden, “Force Majeure,” Ruben Ã-stlund, director;
Switzerland, “The Circle,” Stefan Haupt, director;
Taiwan, “Ice Poison,” Midi Z, director;
Thailand, “The Teacher’s Diary,” Nithiwat Tharathorn, director;
Turkey, “Winter Sleep,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director;
Ukraine, “The Guide,” Oles Sanin, director;
United Kingdom, “Little Happiness,” Nihat Seven, director;
Uruguay, “Mr. Kaplan,” Álvaro Brechner, director;
Venezuela, “The Liberator,” Alberto Arvelo, director.